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A total of 109 coaches were honoured today (26 April) at the 2014 Hong Kong Coaching Awards Presentation Ceremony held at the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI).  The Awards aim to recognise the coaches’ tireless efforts and contributions in leading Hong Kong athletes to achieve remarkable results at both regional and international sporting arena last year, and also in developing sports at the community level.

Organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC), the annual Coaching Awards is the only territory-wide programme to commend the achievements of local coaches from the community to elite level. This year over 170 nominations were received for honours in six categories, they are the coach of the year, distinguished services for coaching, coach education, best team sport coach, coaching excellence and community coach recognition.

Mr Tsang Tak-sing GBS JP, Secretary for Home Affairs; Mr Timothy Fok GBS JP, President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China; Mr Carlson Tong SBS JP, Chairman of the HKSI; and Professor Frank Fu MH JP, Chairman of the HKCC officiated at the Ceremony.

Professor Fu paid tribute to all the winning coaches and praised their multiple roles in the development of an athlete.  He said, “A good coach is not only a trainer but also a counsellor and an influencer, assisting athletes to overcome various types of challenges in their sports journey and eventually unleashing their potentiality in sport.”

The Coach of the Year Award again remains one of the highlights of the Presentation.  Cycling coach Shen Jinkang claimed his eighth Coach of the Year title in the senior athletes, individual sport category, by leading Lee Wai-sze to a historic double gold in the keirin and sprint events at the Asian Games (AG).  Their triumphant return from AG carries on their legend of bringing home medals at each AG since 1998.  The team’s 16 medals won at the Asian Cycling Championships, UCI Track Cycling World Championships and UCI Track Cycling World Cup – Series 3 are just icing on the cake for Coach Shen.

Squash coach Chiu Wing-yin Rebecca and boccia coach Kwok Hart-wing were both awarded the Coach of the Year Awards in the senior athletes, team event category for the first time this year. Athlete turned coach and a local squash icon, Chiu Wing-yin demonstrated well her coaching eminence in leading the women’s team to win a silver and a bronze medal at the 17^th Asian Squash Team Championships and the AG respectively.  Boccia coach Kwok Hart-wing led the team to return from the 11^th Asian Para Games with one gold and two bronze medals in pair BC4, pair BC3 and team BC1/2 events and a gold at the BISFed Boccia World Championships.

Wushu coach Law Kin-keung collected his first Coach of the Year honour in the junior athletes, individual sport category, for his achievements in guiding two young athletes to capture a total of 6 medals in the Nangun, Nanquan and Nandao disciplines at the 5^th World Junior Wushu Championships.
Triathlon coach Wan Shu-wah earned his debut Coach of the Year title in the junior athletes, team event category by coaching five promising athletes to one gold and one silver medal in the male elite junior team and 4 x mixed team relay events at the ASTC Junior Asian Triathlon Championships.

Distinguished Services Award for Coaching was presented to windsurfing coach Rene Appel who has devoted most of his career to the development of Hong Kong windsurfing since 1990.  One of Appel’s unarguable achievements was Lee Lai-shan’s first-ever, and Hong Kong’s only Olympic gold attained at Atlanta in 1996.  Appel’s track record in nurturing budding athletes continues with success in bringing up local sailboarders, including Chan King-yin, Cheng Kwok-fai, Chan Hei-man and Leung Ho-tsun.  He was also a familiar face at the annual Coaching Awards Presentation since 1993, collecting the Distinguished Services Award for Coaching in 2002 and nine Coach of the Year Awards.

Football coach Chan Hiu-ming won the Coach Education Award for his long-term commitment to the sport.  Serving the Hong Kong Football Association as the Coach Education Manager since 2013, Coach Chan strongly believes that continuing education and life-time learning are very important to the development of coaches, as well as to the sport.  Towards this end, he has joined the professional football coach course offered by the Asian Football Confederation with a goal to becoming the first male coach to get the qualification in Hong Kong.

The Best Team Sport Coach Award went to rugby coach Gareth Baber who led the team to a gold medal win at the ARFU Asian Seven Series 2014 – Hong Kong and, eventually claimed first place in the Final Ranking.

In addition, the Coaching Excellence Awards were presented to 82 coaches who led an athlete or a team to achieve outstanding performance at many major international competitions in 2014, while 26 coaches were presented with the Community Coach Recognition Awards for their special contributions to coaching athletes and teams in the community for a period of not less than three consecutive years.

The HKCC, a joint committee of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and the HKSI, was established in 1991 with aims of formulating and implementing short-term and long-term strategies for the development of coach education and accreditation programmes in Hong Kong.  Over the years, more than 85,000 coaches have benefited from the HKCC’s training and recognition programmes.

For the List of Recipients for the 2014 Hong Kong Coaching Awards, please click here.  For the past recipients, please click here.